Per Mertesacker is entrusted with the job of collecting fines from Arsenal players in breach of club discipline but the German may find himself going cap in hand to manager Arsene Wenger for his place in the team.

During John Terry’s Chelsea career, no player has been through the highs and lows with him more than Frank Lampard.

The duo have been synonymous with Chelsea’s success over the past decade and formed a strong bond from the moment Lampard arrived at Stamford Bridge from West Ham in 2001.

Both are influential members of the squad but Terry, who has been at the club since he was a teenager, is the main leader on the pitch, as the captain’s armband signifies.

Yet for large parts of last season, Terry watched in frustration as firstly a knee injury and then Rafael Benitez’s rotation policy restricted him to just 24 starts out of a possible 69.

It was the first time the 32-year-old had suffered such treatment and it prompted some to start penning his football obituary.

With a back story of controversies worthy of any soap character and the club allowing his contract to enter the last 12 months of their agreement, there was even debate he could be sold in the summer.

Lampard knows just how difficult that situation can be. Two years ago, he was being sidelined by Andre Villas-Boas, while last term the club took until May to offer him a one-year extension.

With new manager Jose Mourinho already dropping strong hints that Terry will get a new deal too, Lampard expects his old friend to be playing at the highest level for some time yet.

He told Standard Sport: “It’s too early for people to be writing him off. John is a few years younger than me and with his experience and quality, he has got years left in the game.

“It’s a very easy angle for people to take when someone is injured or doesn’t play. No one can write John off because of what he’s done in the game.

“Was it hard for him last season? Yes, of course. We have all been there. We’ve all had our injuries and been in and out of the team, that does happen especially in a competitive squad like ours. But you keep your head, you keep professional and John has done exactly that.

“He works very hard. It wasn’t his fault he got injured, there is not much you can do about that. He certainly came back in pre-season and did everything right to get back in the side.”

Mourinho has looked to the veteran much more than Benitez did to lead by example in central defence. So far he has started every Premier League game, although he was left on the bench for the Uefa Super Cup and their shock opening Champions League group game defeat to Basle.

Chelsea are under pressure to bounce back from the setback of a fortnight ago and get a result away to Steaua Bucharest tonight.

It was only six months ago that Terry scored with a trademark header against the same opponents to help Chelsea progress to the Europa League quarter-finals in a typically mature display.

Lampard said: “I always enjoy seeing him in the team next to me because of the way he plays, his desire and he can always score crucial goals.

“I think his performances, character and leadership have been of the highest level this season and he is someone you can always rely on. This is Chelsea Football Club and we all know what John means to it. It’s good to see him playing this well.

“But we have great competition at the back and it’s up to the manager to use players at the right time and keep everybody happy. In terms of what we’ve got at centre-half, and in every position, we have lots of competition.”

Having lost in Bucharest in the first leg of their Europa League tie last term, Lampard feels Chelsea will have to be at their best to succeed this time, no matter who’s in the team.

“Maybe some people regard them as the minnows of the group, but it doesn’t matter,” he said. “We know them quite well from playing them last season. They gave us a tough game home and away but particularly on their ground. We certainly know we can’t take anything for granted.

“It is very important to get our heads right and try to win here. It’s not a do-or-die game, there are four games after this but we want to get a positive result.”